This book sheds light on early Latin book culture and book production in Norway. The establishment of Latin writing in Norway predates writing of the Old Norse vernacular (with the exception of runic inscriptions) and was an important prerequisite for vernacular book culture in medieval Norway...

When an Old Norse book culture was established in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it appears that the scribes usually wrote in both languages. The arrival of the Latin alphabet and Latin books from the eleventh and twelfth centuries on had a revolutionary effect on Norwegian culture. Yet, very few of the Latin manuscripts from the Middle Ages remain intact today. As a consequence of the arrival of printed service books in 1519 and the introduction of Lutheranism in 1536–37, the service books of the medieval church in Norway went out of current use. However, as many were written on substantial parchment, the manuscripts were reused for binding purposes, especially in public account books after the Reformation. Thus, the medieval books partially survived in the form of fragments.

In this book a large number of extant Latin manuscripts and manuscript fragments of Norwegian origin or provenance are presented for the first time in print, to demonstrate the range and the extent of the material. The date and the origin of the manuscripts are central issues of interest, particular whether they are imported or produced locally in Norway. The establishment of an early local production of liturgical books happened in the eleventh century. Many of the liturgical manuscripts contain musical notation and are important sources of medieval music. The twelfth century was the age of importation as well as local production of Latin manuscripts in Norway. The earliest evidence of patristic and theological literature stems from around 1100. Several of the contributions in the volume concern English influence in particular.

The primary material is found in different archives and libraries in Norway and the rest of Scandinavia. The largest collection of fragments in Norway is found in the National Archives in Oslo. These fragments are connected with the collection in the National Library (Oslo), which contains fragments of some of the same manuscripts, as well as the earliest book produced in Norway still extant in its original form (the Kvikne psalter, from the late twelfth/early thirteenth century). For the first time the collection of Norwegian fragments of Latin manuscripts in the Swedish National Archives (Stockholm) is presented in print. This collection contains, inter alia, previously unknown material concerning St Olav.

The Latin manuscripts of medieval Norway have been largely neglected, with the notable exception of the masterly studies of Lilli Gjerløw (1910–1998) to whose memory the present volume is dedicated. However, the last ten years have seen intensified study and research on the remains of early Latin book culture in Norway by scholars from different disciplines (medieval Latinists, musicologists, palaeographers, Old Norse philologists, historians) and different countries (America, England, Scandinavia and Iceland). Several of these scholars contribute to the present volume.